Ableton Forum

So I'm running Ableton Live 6 on a pc with windows xp service pack 2, intel pentium 4 CPU 3 GHz, 1 G of Ram recording to a 150 gig harddrive seperate from the c drive, M-Audio Firewire Audiophile hardware buffer set to 512, 2 tracks in use in arrange view, 4 tracks with 4 clips per track in use in session view, no effects.

The problem is when more than 2 clips are playing together in the session view (along with two tracks playing in arrange view) my cpu usage jumps up to 75 + percent and I get pops and crackles. If I dare trigger a 3rd or 4th clip the program freezes.
Surely my computer can handle 6 tracks......help

It should be OK but you're pushing the low end of computing. Turn up your AUDIO BUFFER size (options-preferences-audio) and set your VST BUFFER size to 'same as audio.' You should also google for 'DAW optimisation XP' to get some tips about what you can turn off to get more power from your machine.

There's also a feature in clip view to 'load sample into RAM' that might help, maybe.

I run a system with nearly the same specs (except I don't use an Audiophile) and I get a lot more tracks than that with a buffer setting of 256. So, no, you're not maxed out. You may be having a configuration or hardware incompatibility problem.

Many times with firewire cards the problem is with an incompatible firewire chipset on your motherboard. There's a lot of other possible issues too so folks here would need some more information to help you.

Can you give us your system specs such as model and manufacturer or if you built it yourself, your motherboard model? Also, do you have problems with other audio applications running through the audiophile or just Live?

--JD

Tone Deft wrote:It should be OK but you're pushing the low end of computing. Turn up your AUDIO BUFFER size (options-preferences-audio) and set your VST BUFFER size to 'same as audio.' You should also google for 'DAW optimisation XP' to get some tips about what you can turn off to get more power from your machine.

There's also a feature in clip view to 'load sample into RAM' that might help, maybe.

Yeah, sorry man, but up until recently I was running a P4 3.2 GHz machine, and was way better off than the OP. I would concur with checking the firewire chipset, and making sure it is compatible with the Audiophile. In the past, that soundcard has had issues (though I think more with Macs). There is something funky going on.

Also, check if you have anti-virus programs running in the background, and check out musicxp.net for performance tweaks for XP. One of the most important is to make sure that processor scheduling is set for background services and not Programs (this is better for audio).

Best,
AB

It's cool to hear how the 'lower end' machines handle live. I don't mind being wrong as long as I don't do it too much.

Having all your buffers the same size seems to help sometimes. Once I started using ASIO4ALL (PC only) my latency went from 30ms to 8ms.

Also, turn off your internet connection and be diligent about keeping viruses and crap off your music machine.

For the firewire, how well do your sets play w/o the external card?

There's a hard drive overload indicator at the top right of the Live screen, is that showing any problems?

Tone Deft wrote:It's cool to hear how the 'lower end' machines handle live. I don't mind being wrong as long as I don't do it too much.

Having all your buffers the same size seems to help sometimes. Once I started using ASIO4ALL (PC only) my latency went from 30ms to 8ms.

Also, turn off your internet connection and be diligent about keeping viruses and crap off your music machine.

For the firewire, how well do your sets play w/o the external card?

There's a hard drive overload indicator at the top right of the Live screen, is that showing any problems?

It's all cool, yo! I forgot to mention the HD thing as well. But that shouldn't be pushing the CPU up so dramatically?

Finally, the OP should open up task manager with no programs running and see what the cpu usage is like. I remember when I was just getting into making music on the lappy, and I wasn't really that diligent about anti-virii and all, there were things running in the background that were eating up a fair amount of CPU. Good lessons to learn are those that deal with malware/viruses on PCs.

Best,
AB

did anyone ask him if he's using complex warp?